1/17 7side rapper Kryptic (centre) and an entourage of Chilliwack supporters toast to what they hope will be a successful second round for their friends split2nd and Mabus as the second night gets underway at Industry.
2/17 On Jan.6 the first night of battle, $200 sits on the promoter's table at Industry before being stuffed in a shoebox for safekeeping. Each competitor paid $20 to enter into the competition, with more added each round when new competitors entered. "This is a really big opportunity for a lot of the up-and-coming rappers in the area," Chelsie Grobins, promoter and part owner of Where It's At Entertainment said. "Vancouver definitely doesn't give rappers opportunity like we're giving."
3/17 Vancouver's L,T (left) serves a lengthy diss to Drastik Measures (Aren Halvarson) in the first round. A carpenter and father of one, Measures came back, winning judges' approval. "This isn't 8 Mile, this is eight clicks, you stupid faggot, you're getting hate kicked, while I tape you up and rape the chick that you date with," Measures rapped during pre-battle practice. " [The crowd] wanna hear the worse possible stuff you can say to somebody," said Measures. "It's human nature."
4/17 Nik Dirty (Nick Webber), a 19-year-old hopeful from Maple Ridge (left) tries to fend off affronts from Chilliwack's Herc (Tyler Midgley). A recent transplant from Ontario, Webber was unaware of the battle component the first night, but competed anyways. Less of a battle rapper than others, Webber wants to cultivate his own songs. "That's what I'm mastering, my own live performances," said Dirty. "I don't have any plans to go to school right now, I'm just focusing on my rap."
5/17 A spar between Vancouver's Black Ace and Chilliwack's split2nd ended night one. Territorial rants and verbal assaults (with more explicit sexual violence than any other battle) boiled over into fisticuffs onstage. Black Ace's "I represent Van City, what you represent? You on Chilliwack, you ain't got 10 cents!" was met with split2nd's "You wanna talkin hate me?... Aren't you going to talk about Davie Street? But wasn't he the one who went there the other day and caught HIV?" retort.
6/17 Split2nd (Andre Bell, left) of Chilliwack's 7side crew on Vancouver's attitude towards Chilliwack rap "I think they think it's a joke," split2nd said. "People just like to hate because I'm from a small town, crack farm jokes and shit." He might move to the city, but a daughter keeps him here. Bruce Lee movies, anxiety and boredom precede the night. Bell and friend/rapper Mabus (both of Chilliwack's 7side crew) are sure the judges will make them battle during the competition.
7/17 Chilliwack underdog Paranomoly (Jackson Matthew) shouts over a beat while opponent Mabus paces. Stricken with cervical cancer, his mother wasn't supposed to have a second child; music, he says, is way of affirming his existence. When he's not rapping, he plays in a sci-fi funk rock band. "I've just kind of re-started rapping," said Matthew. "Competition makes me better." Despite his confidence, Matthew's antics weren't strong enough to beat Mabus, "I choked," he said afterward.
8/17 Nik Dirty dressed for the occasion. After the previous week's loss against Herc, Dirty won the judge's favour in a rematch, seizing the opportunity to show off his talent over a beat. Next week is solo performance, his forte. "I think I did good, but I think I can do better," said Dirty." Hopefully...hopefully this leads to something one day." Herc was mired in self-doubt afterwards, and disbelief that judges let Dirty go on. "I'll do better next time. Get back on the horse right?"
9/17 A few of the girls working for Valerie Wilson, promoter of the battle series and final D-12 performance, record their male counterparts during deliberation over a win onstage. Known as Ms. V's Street Team, they have been responsible for promoting the competition from the beginning.
10/17 At the end of the night, the crowd tired, but L,T overcame popular contender Black Ace with aggressive raps and stories of personal drug trauma to take the win. Forgoing the microphone and going a capella in an extra fourth round, he was rife with confidence. "I searched this out myself, nobody helped me out with this," said L,T afterwards. "Three years in the industry and I actually found myself."
11/17 The crowd gathers in the dark, low-ceilinged bar room at Industry as the final night gets underway. Promoter Valerie Wilson (dubbed Ms.V by Ice-T's DJ Evil E) sits front and centre, watching as her show gets underway. A 39-year-old music biz workhorse, Wilson has been active in bringing contemporary hip-hop artists to Western Canada for the last six years.
12/17 Chilliwack resident Chasta McCulloch (third from right), head of Ms. V's Street Team, dances with fellow team members in between performances. Omnipresent throughout the competition, the self-described hip-hop queen exudes enthusiasm for rap. "I love music," said McCulloch. "Just to be in the vicinity of music and hip-hop is something I thrive on." She hopes to someday bring Eminem himself to Chilliwack. "I think he would be able to identify with people here, definitely," said McCulloch.
13/17 Albert Richards (right) celebrates his son Nik Dirty's performance of two original songs during the third night of competition. Richards attended every night of competition, often huddled at a table by the stage strategizing with his son. Richards doesn't force his son to pursue school, but supports his rap ambitions instead. On his parenting strategy: "I let him believe in himself," said Richards. "If you're happy, I'm happy."
14/17 Under the judge's orders, neither Mabus (left) nor split2nd would advance to the final round before battling one another, thereby bringing their earlier living room prophecy to life. "I'm hammered as fuck, I'm in no condition to be battling right now," said split2nd. Mabus tried averting the contest by suggesting a two-on-two competition, but the judges wouldn't have it. He ended up storming offstage into the night, handing his crewmate the finalist position.
15/17 Vancouver Technical Secondary School graduate Makk Murda onstage during his final performance of the third night. Throughout the competition, Makk's aggressive style and outright braggadocio earned him respect from the judges and the crowd. On his success through the competition: "This is easy for me. I'm a lippy rapper, I'm from the streets, I came from nothin' nigga. I'm talkin' no toilet paper, mom's on welfare, nothing. When I'm not doing this shit, I'm a gangster."
16/17 Amidst controversy over potential judge favouritism, Makk Murda is crowned the winner of the three-week-long competition as finalists split2nd and L,T look on. Unsubstantiated rumors circulated among 7side crew members that DJ Young Mase (D-12's DJ, in town for a week early to help judge the show) helped push Makk through to win the final round.
17/17 Miss V. hands Makk $200 and shakes his hand, giving him the opening spot for D-12.
[Editor's note: Click through Justin Langille's 17-picture photo essay at the top of this story to look in on Chilliwack's three-night rap battle.]
When a concert by Detroit rap group D-12, including Eminem, gets underway at Chilliwack's Industry Night Club tonight, the opening act won't just be warming up the crowd. He'll be taking his throne.
For the last three weeks, hip-hop heads from across the Lower Mainland have descended on the back alley bar to watch a pack of hungry young rappers tear each other apart for a stack of cash and a chance to share the stage with legit hip-hop stars. Dubbed the 8-Mile Freestyle Competition (in honour of Eminem's seminal pseudo-biopic), the contest was held as a promotional rouse for a rare Fraser Valley appearance by D-12.
The competition, judged by Vancouver hip-hop group Global Syndicate, was a three-round cross between Idol-style talent shows and the more traditional rap battle.
In the first round, mostly unknown young MCs faced off against one another in the conventional one-on-one battle format. In three a capella tries apiece (for the uninitiated, that's with no beats whatsoever), two rappers rhymed freestyle affronts filled with verbal assault meant to best (and in most cases humiliate) their opponent.
The second round provided one minute bursts of instrumental hip-hop issued forth from the DJ's pedestal while competitors rapped freestyle verse overtop, showing off their versatility and verbal dexterity.
In the third, those who still remained in the competition, and others who ventured to enter the competition mid-way, performed two songs from their repertoire of songs and pre-written material.
That was how it was supposed to go down anyway.
As tends to happen in most serious contests of rap skill, the ad hoc rules of hip-hop conduct were bent and the riot act was adhered to loosely. Rounds went overtime, people rhymed composed material (writtens) when they were supposed to be improvising. And no one could mistake these evenings for genteel explorations of the nuances of race, class, gender and sexuality. This was the unrepentant art of rhyming slurs and stories of survival as practiced by cooks, carpenters, young fathers, the keepers of an independent rap culture nearly invisible in local media.
When Metro Vancouver rappers and the Chilliwack's 7side crew competed, it was urban-rural class warfare, amped to the max. A division of labour ensured that only men performed while women danced and documented; in fact, women recorded the men's exploits on video and generally organized the entire show. Violent, homophobic insults were de rigueur for rappers during battle and garnered the biggest response from the crowd. When a winner was announced, at least one of the losers accused the judges of favouring people of one skin colour over others.
The stakes were high, especially for the Chilliwack rappers competing. Not only might they claim superiority on home ice, they could earn a chance to share the stage with rappers who have sold millions of records. One shot.
Who won? Click through the photo essay at the top of this story to find out.